Miami Valley Coin Club

The 1894-S Barber Dime

The 1894-S dime is perhaps the rarest business strike coin ever produced by the US Mint.

Mint records report that only 24 coins were struck. It is believed that only 10 have survived. The book “The 100 Greatest United States Coins” rated the 1894-S dime as the sixth most desirable coin ever struck.

One rumor has it that only that many were produced to balance the “books” and a “testing of the dies”.

Another rumor says that the superintendent of the San Francisco Mint, John Daggett, struck 24 pieces, all proofs, as a favor for his banker friends. He gave 3 of these coins to his daughter, Hallie, telling her to put them away until 1954 when she was his age and then sell them for a good price. Not heeding her father’s advice, she supposedly used one to buy a dish of ice cream. In 1954 she was said to have sold the remaining two to coin dealer Earl Parker. These two dimes were eventually purchase by Louis Eliasberg.

Greatest US Coins ahead of the 1894-S dime:

1. 1804 dollar
2. 1913 Liberty nickel 
3. 1933 Saint-Gaudens double eagle 
4. 1849 Coronet double eagle 
5. 1907 Ultra High Relief double eagle